The Tech Library

Full Format and Reinstall Windows Guide

If you are having a vast amount of trouble with your operating system and its unfixable then you might have chosen to do a fresh installation of Windows. This can have many advantages. Some of these are that it removes all the junk files that build up as you use your computer and it also resolves any issues with slowness, but this may not resolve all issues as sometimes speed is related to hardware. The older your hardware the slower your computer will be regardless of a clean install. Doing a fresh install will also remove any viruses that are hidden on your computer which will make it safer for you when using the computer for browsing.

Before we start to format our discs and reinstall our operating system, it’s important that you back up any important files if you can access the operating system as the reinstall we will be doing will wipe ALL data from the hard drive.

It is also important that you have all the appropriate drivers needed for your hardware. These include things such as motherboard drivers, Graphics Drivers and Audio drivers to name a few.

Now, when you are ready to begin the reinstallation process, insert your copy of Windows into the CD drive and reboot the computer. Now, take note, it is important that we set the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) to boot from our CD drive where the installation disc is located. This can be done by entering the BIOS by pressing the appropriate key to enter. Then you will need to find Boot Options and set it to the CD drive. Now, Save all settings and once again, reboot the computer.

Now, this time when you reboot your computer you will get a message that asks you to press and key to boot from CD. We need to do this so press any button to boot from the CD. You will now be prompted with another screen which informs you that setup is inspecting your computers hardware configuration.



Let this continue and depending upon your harddisk setup you may need to install sata, SCSI, or RAID drivers. Tap the appropriate button (normally F6) to do this and follow your instructions for installing the needed drivers.



If you do not need to install any additional RAID or SCSI drivers, let the setup continue. You will see that the setup will load a lot of different operations down the bar along the bottom of the screen. These are required to install the operating system to your hard disks.

You wont need any user input for the time being so you can grab a cup of coffee while you wait for it to finish loading in the installation files.



When this has finished you will be asked if you want to either Setup Windows XP by pressing Enter, Repair an existing operating system, or quit. We need to select Setup Windows XP so press the enter key to take us to the next part of the setup process.



You will then be prompted with the EULA (End User License Agreement) which you must read and accept by pressing F8.



Now you will be prompted with the partition manager. This will allow us to format our existing operating system and install a fresh copy.

Firstly we need to delete the partition by pressing D and then followed by L to physically delete the partition after a prompt.



Now, once the partition is deleted, we need to create a new one. This will give us the C:\ drive you commonly see in My Computer.

Now, you will see the screen we were on before has changed to an unpartitioned space. If you want to create multiple partitions to store your operating system on one partition and your documents on another you will need to create a partition and set the sizes in the manager.

Now, you can either chose between a quick format or a full format here. You MUST use the NTFS file system otherwise you will be highly restricted on the space you can use on the hard drive and its also a slower file system.
For the purpose of this guide, I will be using a Quick format, but if you want to ensure that all data is properly wiped then its best to do a full format but this takes longer than a quick format.

Now setup will run a format on your hard drive. Speed will vary for how large your discs are and also the type of format you chose, Quick or Full.

Once the format procedure has been completed, setup will automatically begin to copy files to the hard drive. These are your core operating system files and are required to make your system run. This may take a few minutes.



Now, once the setup has finished copying the files to the hard drive, setup will automatically reboot your computer. Make sure that the boot procedure is still set to boot from the CD ROM drive otherwise setup will not be able to continue installing the operating syhstem.
On reboot, the computer will boot into the next part of the setup procedure which allows us to configure settings about our PC. It is important that through this part of the process you do not touch the keyboard until prompted as this will reset the setup and you will have to begin the process again.

When the next part of installation loads, this is the actual installing of the operating system itself, you will have to wait approximately 40minutes for this to complete.



Now during the installation you will be prompted for various settings. The first we come across is the Regional and Language Setup. This sets the profiles for your operating system language and also the layout of your keyboard. Make sure they are ALL set to your country in each of the separate areas of this menu.



The next part which we need to fill in is the name and organization. You only have to enter your first name but you can really enter anything you want in either of these 2 boxes.



Now you will have to enter the product key that came with the operating system when you bought it. It is usually found on the CD casing or on some documentation inside the box. You must enter this exactly otherwise it will reject the key.



Now once passed entering the product key, we get to name the computer. This can be whatever you want. I chose to call mine Pingu. If you choose to set an administrator password, I strongly urge you to write it down in the CD casing so you don’t forget it if you ever need to boot into admin mode. If you don’t want to set a password, leave the boxes blank and click Next.



Our next setting we have to enter is the time zone you live in. Select this from the drop menu and make sure the time and date are correct. Click next.



Setup will now continue to install itself.

A few minutes after it will ask you for some network settings. Just accept the defaults and click Next. It will ask you whether the computer is part of a domain. Even if it is, skip this by saying No and click next. You can easily change them later on in the operating system itself.



Setup will now install various other things such as the start menu and register components. As the final part of the installation setup will save settings.

It will now reboot itself and boot and it will ask you to spend a few final minutes setting up various other things.

It is best to turn automatic updates on as this keeps you protected from the latest vulnerabilities in the system when it was made.

Now it will check if an internet connection is present.

When it asks you to register with Microsoft, click No, not at this time and click next.



It will then ask you to add some users to the computer. Here you need to add the users which you want to have an account on the computer. By default you have to enter one which will logon when you boot. You can easily add or remove accounts in the Control Panel later on.



Click Next and then Finish and we have set up a fresh install of Windows XP.

Now that you can enjoy the freedom of a fresh install you now need to install your drivers needed for the computer. Insert each disc at a time and install the correct drivers for the system. This will ensure you maximum compatibility with all your hardware.

Another vital thing to do is to install ALL security updates. This can usually be done by going to Internet Explorer and selecting Windows Update from the Tools menu along the top. You will now be taken to the Microsoft website where you follow the onscreen prompts for installing updates.

After your updates have been installed you can now begin to add your programs such as word and office etc. It is also recommended to install security software to prevent infection in the future

Now, when this is complete you can restore any of your backed up files to the location you choose.